Known protective garments such as bullet-proof vests, comprise as a rule of so-called ceramic ballistic plates as a rule in combination with a so-called ballistic material, e.g. soft panels made of Kevlar (Trade Mark, Du Pont), Spectra (Trade Mark, Allied Chemicals), Aramid (Trade Mark) and the like. In the ceramic plate insert which, depending on the intended use, may be flat or curved, the individual plates are densely laid out with neighbouring plates tightly bearing on each other.
The insert forming plates in known composite protective bodies of the kind specified are usually large relative to the diameter of the kinetic energy missile against which it is to afford protection, e.g. of the order of 5 cm.sup.2. Where the composite body has only one single ceramic plate layer it affords a relatively low multi-hit capability since every hit destroys one of the plates leaving a relatively large unprotected area. In some known bullet-proof vests the multi-hit capability is improved by provision of inserts with two or more mutually staggered overlapping layers of ceramic ballistic plates. However, this renders the vest relatively heavy and gives rise to significant discomfort of the wearer.